Extreme Recruiting Efforts

Question: What movie starred Shaquille O'Neal and centered around a college basketball coach who had to break the rules to land the best players?

(You can find the answer at the end of this article.)

When someone's in the business of sports, he's in the business of winning. It doesn't matter if said individual owns a sports team or a company that makes athletic gear. The best players in a particular game can turn their teams into winners; lots of Ws often translate into lots of dollar signs.

It thus stands to reason that teams are under immense pressure to sign the best athletes, and often have to go the extra mile when recruiting. Some teams, however, stretch that mile into a virtual marathon, using recruiting ploys which are desperate and often in bad taste. That's truer in college than in the pros.

We'll look at some recruiting techniques that were outlandish and even outrageous. All amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Recruiter: Logan Young

Recruitee: High school athlete Albert MeansBait: $150,000

A businessman from Memphis, Tennessee could be heading to a federal pen for his overzealous recruiting efforts. Logan Young, a former University of Alabama football booster, said he never bought a player for the Crimson Tide. But a federal court didn't buy his story, convicting him of paying off a high school coach in an attempt to land a top recruit for Alabama.

Lynn Lang, a high school coach in Memphis, testified that Young paid him $150,000 to steer recruit Albert Means to Tuscaloosa. In June, a federal judge sentenced Young to six months in prison followed by another six months of home confinement and two years of supervised release. Young still claims he's innocent; he's free until an appeal can be heard in this case.

Alabama wants nothing to do with this booster turned convicted criminal. The university severed its relationship with Young when an NCAA investigation resulted in sanctions against the football team.

Recruiters: Nike/Adidas

Recruitee: LeBron JamesBait: Vacations, ego massages

Just how much is a star athlete worth to sneaker companies? Look no further than the example of Michael Jordan and Nike. When M.J. signed on with the swoosh in the mid-'80s, the company was struggling and losing market share to Reebok. By the late '90s, Nike had morphed into a multibillion-dollar corporate behemoth. Jordan's first contract with Nike was a five-year $2.5 million deal.

Ever since, shoe companies have searched desperately for the next Jordan. Apparently, both Nike and Adidas thought LeBron James could be the second coming. Nike invited James and his mother to their posh corporate headquarters. Adidas chartered a private jet to fly James and his friends from Ohio to Los Angeles and put them up in a Malibu mansion, a trip appealing enough to make them skip the senior prom. Back home in Akron, Adidas paid for billboards and bus ads urging James to choose three-striped gear. One of the messages read "Will you use fame to change the world?"

James is trying to change the world of basketball, but he's doing it in Nike gear. According to published reports, his seven-year contract with Nike is worth more than $90 million.